Description:
Oil slicks glittering on the surface of the sea and thousands of hectares of soil penetrated by oil leaking from abandoned wells are just part of the pollution that people living around the Caspian Sea must endure. In addition there are various industries, particularly chemicals and mining, large-scale irrigated farming and untreated household waste. Combined with the effects of the oil, all these forms of pollution have a serious impact on the well-being of humans and wildlife.

Markets for Caspian oil and gasThe prospects for rapid oil wealth contrast with fast spreading poverty following the collapse of the Soviet economy. Although massive investment has suddenly been channelled into the area, its effect is still both geogr...

By Philippe Rekacewicz, UNEP/GRID-Arendal

Total sturgeon catch in the Caspian Sea, 1932-2000Pressure from the international community having raised awareness of its value as a bio-resource, the region is now struggling to save the sturgeon. To protect the vulnerable fish species more then 100 million sturgeon a...

By Philippe Rekacewicz, UNEP/GRID-Arendal

Energy production, consumption and export - Kazakhstan and AzerbaijanThe land-based activities of the oil and gas industry in Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan have had a much more severe impact on the environment than marine activity. In particular the growth in hydrocarbon-related activity has ...

By Philippe Rekacewicz, UNEP/GRID-Arendal

Selected impacts of climate change in the Caspian Sea regionAs the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere increases, the temperature in the European part of the Caspian Sea region will continue to rise, at least at first. Some researchers have recently expressed fear...

By Philippe Rekacewicz, UNEP/GRID-Arendal

Regulation in the Volga river, 1934 compared to 1999The construction of a large number of dams and industrial facilities on the rivers feeding the Caspian has caused a significant change in the quantity of water inflow. The creation of a succession of large reservoirs, es...

By Philippe Rekacewicz, UNEP/GRID-Arendal

Kara-Bogaz-Gol - water level variation over timeComparing a series of satellite images from different periods a Californian hydrologist discovered in 1983 that a huge white spot had taken the place of the vast Kara-Bogaz- Gol (literally “dark gullet” in Turkmen) in th...

By Philippe Rekacewicz, UNEP/GRID-Arendal

Total trade in sturgeon caviar, 1999-2003The caviar trade reportedly fell by about 70% between 1999 and 2003 but there is still every reason to monitor development of the sturgeon population and keep it on the list of endangered species. However it is not clear...

By Philippe Rekacewicz, UNEP/GRID-Arendal

Water flow from the Caspian Sea to the bay of Kara-Bogaz-Gol, 1930-2000Kara-Bogaz-Gol is a lowland area that forms a highly saline bay on the east side of the Caspian Sea, in Turkmenistan. Soviet leaders maintained that this was “a useless caldron for evaporation, an insatiable mouth swallo...